Now that Marvel have proven a superhero ensembles can be billion dollar franchises, rivals Warner Bros and DC look like they’re finally moving forward with a Justice League movie. While making a Justice League movie work is something I’ll write about a bit later on, for now I will focus on what may be Warner Bros biggest hurdle; fixing the Green Lantern franchise.

Before the original film was released, rumour has it that Warner Bros were planning on fast-tracking a sequel in order to keep actor Ryan Reynolds attached, preventing him from moving over to Marvel to film a Deadpool spin-off from the X-Men franchise. A year later, and it seems Reynolds may be out based on the critical and financial success of the last movie, meaning Warner Bros may either be planning a total reboot, or a drastically different sequel.

Rumour online is that Warner Bros may be planning on bringing in another human Green Lantern, John Stewart, adding some much needed diversity to their cinematic line-up. While I’m in full support of Warner Bros adding some diversity to their superhero films, I just don’t believe John Stewart on his own would be strong enough to carry a film critics will be waiting to scorn way before it’s even released.

If Reynolds is out, Hal Jordan should not be re-cast. It wouldn’t do Warner Bros or DC any favours. Instead, Hal Jordan should be killed off away from screen, leaving the new human recruits with big shoes to fill. We saw the total disregard from other Lanterns towards the human race in the first film, so that should not be recycled. Instead, why not have it that Hal Jordan’s sacrifice has earned the human race a huge amount of respect, leading to the Lantern’s recruiting not one, but three new humans.

John Stewart, Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner should be the new Green Lanterns for the next movie. All three have drastically different personalities, and a movie line-up lead by three main characters will help add gravitas to the film where the previous version lacked. Now there is a reason for humans to be among the other Lanterns. Plus with Hal Jordan’s death, it even gives room for Reynolds to film some flashback scenes if he really wanted.

Should the main villain be Sinestro? Definitely not. Mark Strong‘s portrayal as the leader of the Green Lanterns was just about the only redeeming quality to the previous movie, despite the fact that his character received a butchered attempt at giving Sinestro a side-story where he becomes a Yellow Lantern. The next movie needs to properly flesh out Sinestro’s character, enabling him to act as a villain for a third film, or perhaps even for the Justice League movie similar to what Marvel did with Tom Hiddleston’s Loki. Since Parallax has already been used (terribly) that rules that out. Many fans feel the Manhunters should be the new villains, but they wouldn’t really be interesting enough on their own. While my Green Lantern knowledge is not as strong as it should be, I feel introducing Amon Sur, the son of the late Abin Sur, would be a great way to introduce a villain with a personal connection to the heroes. For those that don’t know, Amon was jealous that his father had given a power ring to a human, and became a powerful interstellar criminal as a result. He even joined the Sinestro Corps later on so that could even be used for a third film.

So there are my ideas on how to fix the Green Lantern franchise. I for one really hope DC doesn’t let the Green Lantern franchise fall into limbo. There are many great Green Lantern stories out there just waiting to become movies. If it was done correctly, Secret Origin, Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night should have been the trilogy. Despite my prediction, I hope there’s still hope for that.

Do any of you Green Lantern fans agree? How would you want Warner Bros to bring back the Lanterns? As always leave your comments below!

The summer comic book movie season started off with a hammering bang. Thorwas superb, offering cinema audiences a slightly different superhero movie to what they’re used too, but still managing to be dramatic, compelling and fun. X-Men: First Class was dramatic, intelligent, and filled with youthful energy. The pressure was on for DC’sMartin Campbell‘s directed Green Lantern, and did it deliver? No. The movie was universally panned by critics and now faces a struggle to avoid becoming a box office disaster. With Warner Bros putting such high hopes on Green lantern for it to instantly fail, the ramifications will undoubtedly halt future DC movies for B-List characters. But which ones?

The Flash

The adventures of DC’s Scarlett Speedster would undoubtedly have been DC’s next superhero film in line. With a huge comic book fan base, The Flash could have easily translated well to the big screen. Whether the film followed the origin of the always late Barry Allen, or the story of his nephew Wally West, it was a certainty that the film would be announced after the success of Green Lantern. With Hal Jordan not causing much of a storm at the box office, the film starring the likes of Ryan Reynolds and Mark Strong struggling will undoubtedly have Warner Bros pushing the panic button on their smaller franchises, meaning we probably won’t see a Flash movie any time soon. It is however the most likely character to avoid the fall out of the Green Lantern movie.

This will undoubtedly be the certain casualty of the fall out of Green Lantern’s failure. With Joss Whedon the only likely candidate to successfully helm the Wonder Woman film and get results busy on Avengers business, the Amazon Princess will likely stay in development hell for the mean time.

Aquaman

Lampooned by comic book fans as the ‘useless’ hero who talks to sea animals, the cinematic potential for Aquaman likes much deeper. Aquaman could have been an underwater epic, to rival the likes of Avatar. The story could have followed a young Arthur Curry as his human father raised him in the under water city of Atlantis, where Curry develops healing powers along with other powers suited to his aquatic surroundings. What also makes this film standout is that of all the superhero movies getting the 3-D treatment, this was probably the film that could have benefited from it most. If Green Lantern can’t strike cinematic gold, there’s no chance of seeing Aquaman on cinema screens, unless a director such as James Cameron or Steven Spielberg gets behind it.

So these are the main DC films that will probably never see the light of day. There are tons of other DC properties that could have benefited from films, such as Green Arrow, Black Canary, Atom and Hawkman, but these certainly won’t be made if the big three I mentioned can’t escape development hell. Also to take into account, is that Warner Bros are behind the upcoming DC comics reboot, as they wish to start turning a profit on comics books, meaning money saving now seems to be on their agenda.

They do certainly not seem like the type of company to give us a Martian Manhunter film anyway.

As I’ve mentioned before about the likes of Thor and X-Men: First Class, comic book movies have needed to drastically improve in order to survive at the box office. Throwing a special effects extravaganza at audiences just doesn’t cut it anymore. Movies need to develop interesting characters, and generate a good story before worrying about spectacular special effects. That’s where comic book movies are struggling. With so much choice now for comic book movies, the films can’t afford to be lazy. Thor told a great father-son story, First Class added some historical gravitas to a superhero story whilst Green Lantern fails on just about every level…

Terrible plot holes, bad pacing, boring characters (unlike the comic book versions) and a bland story keeps Green Lantern’s feet firmly on the ground. It’s also an example of how a generic ‘popcorn’ superhero movie just doesn’t cut it with critics and fans alike. If Green Lantern bombs, DC will probably shy away from moving forward with projects such as The Flash and Wonder Woman. This could cause serious ramifications for comic book movies because; Marvel’s on screen catalogue of comic book characters will eventually run dry. With no alternative to go to, fans will inevitably get bored of Marvel throwing every B-List character under the sun at them. The same goes for DC’s Batman and Superman franchises. They will eventually run dry and DC will have nothing left to offer.

That’s what’s most disappointing about the Green Lantern movie. There was so much riding on it, and despite having Green Lantern wiz Geoff Johns behind the scenes; the movie has killed off all momentum for DC. Yes they have The Dark Knight Rises coming next year, but considering that’s up against Marvel’s Avengers, don’t expect it to reach the heights of The Dark Knight.

If the genre is dying, every upcoming comic book movie needs to be unique. The initial awesomeness of seeing Marvel’s finest united on screen will undoubtedly hold off bad reviews, but other projects such as Spider-Man, Wolverine and Superman might not be so fortunate unless they give the characters and the story proper attention. It’s time studios take these movies seriously. From the moment the initial GL trailer hit the net and viewers were treated to a classic Ryan Reynolds ‘I KNOW RIGHT’ scene, it was clear Warner Bros weren’t treating GL seriously. And that’s why the genre is struggling. It needs more X-Men: First Class, less Van Wilder in space.

Comic book movies are at an all time high. Every Marvel Comics character from Luke Cage to Daredevil seems to have their own cinematic franchise, or at least have a movie in development. DC has so far lagged behind Marvel when it comes to making their characters come to life on screen.

Whilst Marvel have been whopping out properties such as Iron Man, Spider-Man, Thor and The X-Men in recent summers, DC have rarely ventured beyond the likes of Superman and Batman. Whilst these two properties usually equal cinematic gold, DC’s lesser-known properties such as Jonah Hex, Swamp Thing and Catwoman have all been met with universal panning. Will DC’s cinematic slump change forever when one of their most popular B-list characters, the Green Lantern, hits cinemas in just two days time?

If early reviews are to go by then The Green Lantern is set to be the summer’s first major blockbuster casualty. Major outlets such as Empire Online, Total Film and Digital Spy have all given the film negative reviews. With major critical panning only two days before release, and only a 31% fresh rating on RottenTomatoes, things aren’t looking good for Hal Jordan and The Corps. What will the repercussions be though if Green Lantern bombs this summer?

1) No More Sequels.

If audiences don’t flock and see a film that cost an estimated $150,000,000 to make, chances are Warner Bros will drop their losses and not risk producing another mega budget box office flop. Especially since Harry Potter is set to break box office records this summer, whilst safe-card properties such asThe Dark Knight Rises and Superman: Man of Steel hit screens next year. It will be a great shame if Green Lantern flops, as rumour suggests the film was heavily setting up a sequel, which may now never see the light of day.

2) No DC cinematic universe

Considering how high the budget was for this film, I don’t expect DC to venture into other B-list properties if Green Lantern flops. What also suggests DC might just stick to the likes of Superman and Batman, is the recent cancellation of the Wonder Woman television series. Whilst I’m happy to see more Batman and Superman films, I can’t help but wish for the likes of The Flash, Green Arrow and Aquaman to one day hit cinema screens.

Do you think Green Lantern is doomed? Are you bothered that we may never see The Flash or Wonder Woman in film? Please leave your comments below and let me know what properties you’re hoping to see after Green Lantern.

I hadGreen lantern more or less written off as soon as I saw the film’s first trailer back in November. It looked average, generic and more like Ryan Reynolds as Van Wilder in space than the intergalactic spectacle the character deserved. It seemed the trailers poor response from audiences lead to Warner Bros upping their game, and now Green lantern looks like it can definitely hold it’s own with the rest of this year’s comic book movies.

Will it be the best CBM this year? Probably not, but Green Lantern at least shows promise that now Warner Bros have learnt from their mistakes, and if the movie does well at the box office this year, I’m sure we’ll see a revolutionary sequel in the future. So why the change of heart? It’s because the film is really starting to look like the start of a whole new terrific franchise. Martin Campbell seems to be building a trilogy, with a consistent storyline overlapping over the tree films. . The first film deals with Hal‘s origin, the second (spoiler) will apparently showcase the Sinestro Corps War, arguably one of the best comic book storylines in modern times, and I’m guessing the third will either followThe Blackest Night storyline or something new entirely. Warner Bros clearly have a plan and it will be nice to have a comic book trilogy with consistency for once, without the need for retconning or continuity mishaps.

I was also very pessimistic about the film being in converted 3-D. It seems 3-D is the latest craze in Hollywood these days, but arguably not for the better. Since the incredible success of Avatar, films are now cheaply converted to 3-D which only really pays off in one or two scenes whilst audiences struggle to watch the rest of the films through tinted 3-D glasses. Some early reviews have however suggested the 3-D works fantastically in Green Lantern, which already puts it ahead of this years comic book movies such asThor and Captain America: The First Avenger in the visuals department, as Marvel Studios should stay away from cheap 3-D conversions in the future.

I was also pretty amazed at this recent footage , which shows Hal Jordan facing off against the giant fear entity Parallax. Whilst it may not matchX-Men: First Class‘s drama and emotion, it certainly packs a punch in the action department as that was one of the most impressive set pieces I’ve ever seen from a comic book movie. I now can’t wait to see what imaginative constructs Campbell and the team have come up with, as Green Lantern could potentially be the most imaginative comic book movie ever made.

It certainly won’t be the best CBM this year; Blake Lively still looks unconvincing as Hal’s love interest Carol Ferris, whilst some of the comedy moments look cringy at best. As long as Ryan Reynolds and Mark Strong are on show stealing form as Hal and Sinestro, I’m sure Green Lantern will earn enough to warrant a sequel I personally can’t wait to see.

The problem is, as X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn said, ‘comic book movies are on the verge of dying out.’ After films about a god with a hammer, a team of mutants with super powers, and a man with an intergalactic power ring have come and gone, is a film about a super soldier in World War 2 really likely to take the box office by storm? I doubt it. Whilst fans such as myself are enjoying this new comic book era, casual audiences are likely to get bored of seeing men in costumes save the world every other month. Which is why I cannot understand Marvel’s/Paramount’s decision to release The First Avenger (as it’s called in some nations) at the end of July.

This is especially since the last instalment of the Harry Potter franchise; The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 hits screens just before, which is likely to kill off any hype The First Avenger is going to get from casual cinema audiences. If there was going to be any chance of Captain America managing to bring in audiences that have already seen three comic book movies this year, it’s now gone as the world will still be captivated with boy wizard Harry Potter.

After I saw the initial trailer I was pretty much convinced Thor was in safe hands with Kenneth Branagh. Story looked strong, acting looked fantastic, action looked great. I can’t say the same for Captain America‘s trailer sadly enough. I am not convinced by Chris Evans‘s portrayal of Steve Rogers, as he doesn’t seem to be able to carry any weight/drama in his performances. Considering Thor had Shakespearean drama expert Brannagh at the helm, any drama in The First Avenger is only likely to suffer in comparison.

Enjoy the comic book movie season whilst it lasts. Whilst the reviews for the movies are still going strong, and the money’s coming in, I have a feeling come the end of the year we’re all going to remember Captain America: The First Avenger as Marvel’s big mistake. People might complain about Fox and their superhero movies. But they still know how to promote and distribute their films a far lot better than what Marvel Studios seems capable of. If Captain America: The First Avenger came first this year, it probably would have faired a lot better.

While Smallville may not have been everyone’s taste, it was successfully able to take a character such as Superman and make a television show that was accessible to both men and women of all ages. For men it was a show about a the beginnings of a comic book legend, but for women the show was also about the drama of a young superhero in the making going through high school. In my opinion there are some great potential shows that could fill the void left by Smallville.

This sci-fi show would show how the first group of mutants were trained by Professor Xavier to save the world and fight for mutant rights. Whilst having nothing to do with the movie of the same name, this show would be follow the original X-Men such as Cyclops, Jean Grey, Angel and Beast. To distinguish it from the movie, this show would depict the older years of Professor X, after Magneto and they had fallen out. It would have all the drama of teen mutants struggling to fit into society, whilst also being a show about superheroes with kick-ass powers.

Now Ryan Reynolds seems all but tied up with Green lantern, I’m a true believer that a Deadpool movie simply won’t happen. Luckily, the character is under Fox who have a great reputation for TV shows. I’m certain Deadpool could easily translate into one awesome TV show if given the chance. A show about a mercenary with no rules and a big mouth would provide audiences with great action, good comedy aswell as providing a fresh comic book character in a market that’s becoming heavily saturated. Whilst casting the merc with a mouth would be difficult, I’m sure a show about Deadpool would provide some great fourth wall busting action.

3) The Flash

DC seems to be unsure over what characters to now apply to TV shows. With Smallville finished and Wonder Woman cancelled, I would give the Flash character a chance to shine. Whilst I’m sure a Flash motion picture is on the horizon for DC, (especially now that fans are dreaming of a Justice League movie) what better way to test the waters then by giving Barry Allen or Wally West to chance to shine on TV. Although the character has already had a stint on TV back in 1990, what better time to reintroduce the Scarlett Speedster than a time where he can be given a show with top notch special effects. Plus, being owned by Warner Bros would give the show some serious funding, and with the character being so popular this show could be a potential cult classic.

These are just the main three shows I think would be great to have on television. Let me know what you think. Do any of these shows sound interesting? Or do you have your own idea for a superhero TV show? Please let me know and leave your comments below.

About The Site

I'll be posting my views on all things comic related. Movies, TV, comics and toys, it's all here somewhere. More of a Marvel fan than a DC, favourite characters are Winter Soldier and Daken. Feel free to comment and give me your views on the comic book industry!
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